Yes, these 2 cars are actually the same car.
Back in 2000, I was working at a trading firm on Wall St as a network tech. I had a simple webpage up like this one that showed my love for VW’s. Someone in north Jersey found my page and contacted me with this story:
“I just drove out to NJ from CA with my 65 VW, I need to sell it pretty quick. I no longer need a car because I’m working and living in NYC, and I can’t keep this at my parents place anymore. Do you want to check it out? I only want $200 for it.” Yep.
I took a ride up there and when I saw it in the driveway, I pulled out the $200 and just handed it to him at the door. There was NO rust. The paint was terrible, and the interior was smoked, but $200 for a rust-free car in NJ was heaven sent! I didn’t necessarily want a 65 because of the big windows (I prefer the early cars), but this still had the early headlights/ bumpers/ suspension.
I drove it home. No trailer required.
The quick plan was to give it a cheapie $500 paintjob, a off-the-shelf interior and some new weatherstrip. After stripping the car to bare metal and delivering the car to my friend who’s father owned a bodyshop, the plan began to change.
The car was way too nice to do half-assed. I’d be doing this car full-assed.